N for New Zealand

Yes, I did it. I left my balcony, and today I am so ready for my dear friend Farah to take us all to her home country, a place which is definitely on my want-to-visit-list. A guest post today in other words. Thank you so much, Farah for saying yes:-) This will be awesome - so buckle up, dear reader, as we take off for Farah's New Zealand: 

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We call it ”Aotearoa” in English: The land of the long white cloud.

We are at the bottom of the world, annexed form everything and that what makes New Zealand one dream destination. New Zealand has lots to offer, it has the beaches and warm Mediterranean climate in the north of the North Island; and the fjords and glaciers of Norway in the south of South Island. In between you have the geysers, mud pools, waterfalls, pristine lakes and many many mountains.

In brief, my favourite places from the north to the south:

Cape Rienga – 90 mile Beach (actually the white sand continuous beach is 55 miles long, but the name 90 mile beach stuck!)

Auckland, the city of sails. As the name suggest, there are many boats of sizes, they say, each household owns a boat of some sort.

Lake Taupo, a lake in the middle of the North Island, they say that the north Island is actually a mountain and Lake Taupo is the crater. You would like to go trout fishing? Well this is the place to go.

Napier, Hawkes Bay - The art Deco Capital and the wine valley. Here you will find no less than 50 vineyards, each has a restaurant or shop you can visit. The city was rebuilt in 1931 after a 7.8 earthquake flatten the city and raised what was Napier island. This is the place I grew up.

Wellington (North Island) to Picton (South Island) ferry crossing – Truly magnificent crossing, the ferry takes you through Cook Straight and Queen Charlotte Sound, nature at its best.

Kaikoura – if you want to do see Whales, Dolphins and Sea Lions this is the place to be!

Franz Joseph Glacier and Fox Glacier – Unbelievable, that’s all I can say.

Queenstown – The Adventure capital! Bungee jump was invented here. In the summer there are many things to do from hiking to every water adventure you can think of. In the winter this place is great for skiing. Here there is no low season. It is peak season all year round.

Lake Te Anau and Milford sound – Fro lake Te Anau you will find the glow worms cave and you Milford sound is out of this world, although I have been told it is like in Norway.

Now, having said all of that I would like to take you on a different tangent. Hollywood! What you didn’t know? Many block buster movies were filmed in New Zealand, simply for its true nature beauty. You want to see New Zealand? Watch these movies for stunning scenery:

Race for the Yankee Zepher

The Piano

Whale Rider

The Last Samurai

Heavenly Creatures

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

The World Fastest Indian

Babe, Pig in the City

The Lovely Bones

Vertical Limit

Lord of the Rings – Trilogy

The Hobbit

My last trip home was at Christmas time, as we drove from Auckland to Napier (550km) we took the opportunity to visit “Hobbiton the Shire”. Fantastic absolutely worth the visit! Peter Jackson and crew have left everything exactly as is. I walked around the hills, and felt like a giant! It was great to walk around and be in the Shire and we had ale at the Green Dragon Inn.  As a fan of Lord of the Rings and Hobbiton it was one heck of a delightful day.

Should you ever visit New Zealand, ideally it should be 3 weeks or more, but allow yourself at least 2 weeks. The most common accommodation in New Zealand are Motels (very nice accommodation usually consist of a bedroom, kitchenette and living room) and Holiday Parks (Motels, Camp sites and motor homes sites). You could do this with a car and stay in motels or a Camper van and stay at Holiday Parks.  Remember New Zealand is in the southern Hemisphere therefore the best time to visit is November to April.

Thanks Farah for showing us your New Zealand:-) 

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I feel so blessed to have my lovely global friends - taking us home with them through my blog and this challenge, and Farah is a true global spirit (:-)) From Indonesia/New Zealand, married to Danish Michael, with two sons, and soon leaving (buu-huu) Mumbai to live in Africa! Thanks again sweet Farah - for a wonderful NZ tour. 

Tomorrow we will leave NZ and travel off to a new dream destination, and I can promise you a bit of a wild place... when we take off for O...  

1-30 April I participate in the A to Z blogger challenge, and this post is written as a part of that challenge. Check out some amazing participating blogs here. My theme for the challenge is Dream Destinations. I hope you had fun coming along? Please stay tuned for a new destination tomorrow. 

Go to a-to-zchallenge.com